Born Dec. 6, 1904, in San Jose, Calif., she is the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Edward Parker. Her father was a journalist and a lawyer.

Mrs. Lavers grew up in San Francisco the youngest of three daughters. She said she can remember as a girl walking across the fields to the beaches. Those fields are now covered with city buildings. Mrs. Lavers watched as San Francisco grew.

She has three children. Her son and daughter-in-law, Norman and Cheryl Lavers, live in Jonesboro. Her two daughters, Phyllis Gardner and Vivian Charlton, both live in California. She has five grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and several great-great-grandchildren.

She raised her children in Berkley, Calif. She worked in accounting at Lawrence National Laboratory in Berkeley.

She has always been independent and even when her eyesight started failing, she still lived alone and enjoyed walks every day.

Mrs. Lavers has come from the "buggy days" to the "jet age." At the age of 97, she had no problem boarding an airplane in California to make her home in Arkansas. She wanted to be near her son and daughter-in-law. She has been a resident at Lakeside Nursing Center in Lake City since July 2002. She still gets up every morning and goes to the dining room where she can enjoy hot tea or hot cocoa.

Her son is a writer and taught English at Arkansas State University before retiring. Her daughter-in-law is an artist. They have lived in the Jonesboro area for 28 years.

Mrs. Lavers has always been independent. Her son and daughter-in-law were working in Bancock, Thailand, for a year and being in her 80s did not stop Mrs. Lavers from flying over for a visit. They also spent time working and living in Spain and Mrs. Lavers visited there when she was in her 70s.

She always enjoyed playing bridge and still receives cards and letters from former bridge club members.

Her daughter-in-law baked 100 cupcakes for Mrs. Lavers to share with the staff and other residents in recognition of her 100th birthday.